Ritchie Kotzen is best known these days as the guitarist for the successful Winery Dogs; In the past he was a member of Poison and Mr. Big, participated in the fusion project Vertù with jazz icon Stanley Clarke and recorded 18 solo albums along the way. He’s capable of many musical styles but he always keeps a certain groove, no matter what kind of music he plays. He’s also a good singer with a voice reminiscing of Sammy Hagar; less bold, but still powerful and soulful. Ritchie has been recording for 25 years now and that’s the occasion to release a self compiled double album with a dvd as a bonus. Musically Ritchie flows from hard rock, soul, funk and blues to just singer-songwriter stuff and jazzy fusion music, not forgetting his instrumental work. The spirit of Jimi Hendrix is never far away but Ritchie has a sense for control that makes his work less far out. Besides two new songs, some of the older songs or pieces were rerecorded or do get an acoustic treatment. A couple of Winery Dogs demos conclude this compilation. All these beautiful music is spread over two CDs and on top of that there’s a bonus DVD with some clips that are made like a piece of art. Very tasteful indeed. Ritchie Kotzen is an inspired artist who doesn’t need a band to shine.